Chapter 11

"Whoosh!"

A silver flying arrow shot through the sky like a bolt of lightning, hurtling towards the Ice Soul Python.

Just as the arrow was about to pierce the Ice Soul Python's forehead, a sudden gleam of silver light flashed, and spiritual energy overflowed, blinding the Ice Soul Python's dark green eyes, as if it had been temporarily blinded.

However, at that moment, it opened its mouth and spewed a cold mist, which contained ice chips, directly onto the arrowhead.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

The flying arrow, which had been speeding, seemed to be frozen, emitting a chilling sound, and its speed suddenly slowed down.

"Thud!"

The Ice Soul Python shook its head, and the flying arrow fell weakly to the ground, unable to cause it any harm.

Enraged, the Ice Soul Python, with its green, venomous eyes, flicked its tongue and crashed through the surrounding shrubs, shattering them as it charged over madly.

"Be careful!" Zhuo Qian shouted, shooting another silver flying arrow and yelling, "Work together to kill it!"

Tu Ze, Kang Zhi, and the others all joined in the fight.

A crimson blade of light, like a rainbow, shot out from Tu Ze's long sword, smashing into the oncoming Ice Soul Python.

Kang Zhi let out a strange cry, and from his golden spear, sharp golden energy surged, casting golden spear shadows that aimed at the Ice Soul Python's eyes.

The other four also focused their attention, channeling their spiritual energy and spells, using wind blades, light waves, and fireballs to attack from the sides, supporting Tu Ze and the others.

Only Qin Lie remained stationary.

From their conversations over the past few days, he knew that Tu Ze was at the ninth level of the Body Tempering stage, just one step away from breaking through to the Origin Opening stage. Zhuo Qian and Kang Zhi were both at the eighth level of the Body Tempering stage, with excellent skills and rich combat experience.

The remaining four were all at the seventh level of the Body Tempering stage, considered outstanding among the younger generation of the Nebula Pavilion.

One at the ninth level, two at the eighth level, and four at the seventh level—this group, working together to fight a second-stage spirit beast like the Ice Soul Python, had a good chance of success as long as they were cautious.

This might be Qin Lie's first true battle, so he wanted to observe Tu Ze and the others' combat style before joining in.

Tu Ze and Kang Zhi, wielding long swords and spears, engaged the Ice Soul Python head-on, while Zhuo Qian kept her distance, shooting arrows at it. The other four attacked from the sides, making the Ice Soul Python struggle to cope.

The Ice Soul Python could only continuously spew cold mist mixed with ice chips to barely hold its own against the seven attackers.

The Ice Soul Python's strongest attack was its cold mist. If a martial artist was hit by it, they would immediately become stiff and lose their fighting ability. If the cold poison entered their body, it could be fatal.

Tu Ze and the others were well aware of the Ice Soul Python's terrifying abilities and kept a safe distance. Whenever it was about to spew cold mist, they immediately dodged, never directly confronting the mist. This made the Ice Soul Python's strongest attack ineffective.

Taking advantage of this, Zhuo Qian and the others launched their attacks. The Ice Soul Python was hit multiple times by arrows, wind blades, fireballs, and light waves. Gradually, bloodstains appeared on its body, and its movements became less agile, clearly slowed down by its injuries.

Qin Lie watched the battle intently, learning a lot from Tu Ze and the others.

Tu Ze and the others had clearly fought together for a long time. Their roles were clearly defined, and they cooperated seamlessly, showing great unity and rationality in their attacks.

With their Body Tempering stage cultivation, the seven of them gradually wore down the Ice Soul Python, increasing the number of wounds on its body and gradually weakening its resistance.

The battle quickly lost its suspense. As the Ice Soul Python's injuries worsened and its movements slowed, it was eventually exhausted and killed by the seven of them.

"Ah, what a pity about the python's skin. The skin of a second-stage spirit beast has some value," Kang Zhi said, approaching with Tu Ze, both holding small bottles. They poured a liquid from the bottles evenly over the Ice Soul Python's body.

"Hisss!"

The corpse of the Ice Soul Python began to smoke, and its flesh rapidly melted, making Qin Lie feel uneasy.

Before long, the nine-meter-long Ice Soul Python had melted into a pool of blood, leaving behind a skin with many holes, a piece of snake bone, a beast core, and two rows of sharp teeth.

Clearly, the parts that didn't melt were the valuable materials from the Ice Soul Python.

"You were slacking off, weren't you? We were fighting so intensely, and you just watched from the side?" Tu Ze smiled, without any hint of blame. "Did you see that we weren't in danger and could easily kill the Ice Soul Python, so you thought there was no need to join in?"

Given Qin Lie's previous feat of fighting over forty Shadow Lightning Hawks alone, the seven of them didn't think he was cowardly. They assumed he had stayed out of the fight because he saw that they had the situation under control.

"I have too little experience. I wanted to learn from your combat style, and your cooperation was so默契 (seamless) that I was afraid my participation would interfere," Qin Lie said casually.

"Haha, you're too modest. If you could kill over forty Shadow Lightning Hawks, how could you lack combat experience?" Tu Ze invited him over, pointing to the materials on the ground, and said generously, "I said I would thank you properly if we found the Star Essence Iron. You can choose any of the python's skin, bones, teeth, or beast core!"

Zhuo Qian, Kang Zhi, and the others also smiled, not minding Tu Ze's decision.

Qin Lie looked down and shook his head with a smile. "No, there's nothing I need. I'll pass."

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sharp whistling of arrows suddenly came from the shrubs, and arrows shot out sharply, clearly targeting Tu Ze and the others.

"Thud!"

Before Chu Peng, who was next to Kang Zhi, could react, an arrow pierced his left shoulder, causing him to stagger back in pain and scream.

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian, unable to collect the materials from the Ice Soul Python, immediately became enraged and roared in response.

Qin Lie also turned pale, seeing the arrows whistling towards them. He quickly retreated, looking for a rock to hide behind.

Fortunately, he had wandered around the area for a few days and was very familiar with the terrain. He quickly found a pile of rocks and called out to Tu Ze and the others to join him.

Tu Ze and Zhuo Qian, while slashing at the arrows with their weapons, protected Chu Peng and another injured Han Feng, quickly running towards Qin Lie.

At that moment, a group of about ten martial artists in dark brown clothes gradually emerged from the shrubs.

Several of them held longbows, with sharp eyes, and continued to shoot arrows as they moved, clearly intent on killing everyone.

Behind the archers, a cold-faced silver-haired young man looked at Tu Ze and the others with a sinister gaze.

He was also dressed in dark brown, but his left chest had a pattern of shattered ice, a special symbol of a certain faction.

"Shattered Ice Manor! Yan Ziqian!"

Finally having a place to hide behind the rocks, Zhuo Qian's teeth clenched, and her beautiful face showed intense anger.

"Sure enough, it's the scum from the Shattered Ice Manor!"

Tu Ze, after arranging the injured Chu Peng and Han Feng, also turned cold, ready to charge forward with his long sword.

"Brother Tu, don't be impulsive! Wait for them to get closer. The distance is still too far, and we're still within the range of their arrows!" Zhuo Qian quickly stopped him.

Tu Ze quickly calmed down, took a deep breath, and hid behind the rocks with the others, adjusting his breathing in preparation for the upcoming battle.

Upon hearing "Shattered Ice Manor," Qin Lie knew that this fight was inevitable.

Even in his state of no thoughts and no desires, he could still hear others' conversations. Over the years in the Ling family dining hall, he had heard about the Shattered Ice Manor many times and knew of its power.

Like the Nebula Pavilion, the Shattered Ice Manor was also a Blue Stone-level faction, and both were located in Ice Rock City.

The entire Ice Rock City was dominated by the Nebula Pavilion and the Shattered Ice Manor. Both factions were subordinate to the Black Iron-level faction, the "Sumeru Hall." In theory, the Nebula Pavilion and the Shattered Ice Manor should be restrained by the "Sumeru Hall" and coexist peacefully.

However, that was not the case.

For unknown reasons, these two factions were at odds in Ice Rock City, constantly clashing openly and secretly. Within Ice Rock City, they would be more restrained and control their subordinates from being too reckless.

However, once outside Ice Rock City, the two factions would engage in bloody battles whenever they met, resulting in many deaths.

Gradually, the hatred between the two factions deepened. If it weren't for the "Sumeru Hall's" repeated warnings, there would have been large-scale battles in Ice Rock City long ago.

The Shattered Ice Manor, also located in Ice Rock City, was not far from the Extreme Cold Mountains. Martial artists from the Shattered Ice Manor often came to the edges of the Extreme Cold Mountains to train. Whenever martial artists from the Shattered Ice Manor and the Nebula Pavilion met, they would almost always engage in bloody battles.

Even smaller factions subordinate to the Shattered Ice Manor and the Nebula Pavilion would fight due to the enmity between their superiors, resulting in more deaths.

"Tu Ze, don't hide like a dead dog in your den. Come out!" The cold-faced silver-haired young man stepped forward, his tone malicious and cold. "We chased this Ice Soul Python for six days, expending a lot of energy. Do you think you can just take the credit? Have you asked my Ice Dragon Sword?"

As he spoke, he drew a frost-white long sword, two fingers wide, like a stream of autumn water, gleaming with a cold light.

In the sword, a bright silver ice line seemed to twist and turn, resembling a sealed dragon when seen from a distance.

A young man from the Shattered Ice Manor, while he was speaking, collected the Ice Soul Python's skin, bones, teeth, and beast core, and respectfully handed them to him, saying, "Young Manor Lord, the skin has a few holes, but the rest is intact."

"Hmm, it seems we should thank them," Yan Ziqian nodded, glanced at the items, and gestured for him to put them away.

Tu Ze and the others, hiding behind the rocks, watched helplessly as the Shattered Ice Manor people took their spoils and insulted them, nearly driven to madness.

However, the archers from the Shattered Ice Manor still aimed their arrows at them, preventing them from making any rash moves.

"Wait! Wait for them to get closer, until the arrows are no longer effective!" Zhuo Qian said calmly.

Everyone gritted their teeth, nodded in understanding, and tightened their weapons, waiting for the strong enemy to approach.

The weather during the thunderstorm season was unpredictable. The sky, which had been clear and sunny, gradually turned overcast, with thick clouds covering it, just like the pressure from the Shattered Ice Manor, making everyone feel suffocated and irritable.

"Brother Lie, be ready. If the situation turns against us, you... try to break through and escape. Don't worry about us," Tu Ze said in a low voice.

Qin Lie looked at him in surprise, smiled, and said, "The Ling family and the Nebula Pavilion are on the same side."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions became excited. Tu Ze's eyes lit up, and he felt a surge of courage. Before the battle, he punched Qin Lie's chest hard.

Everything was understood without words.

...ps: Sincerely asking for recommendations! Thank you all for your clicks, collections, recommendations, and rewards. Thank you, new patron, Pi An Rui!

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